Posts Tagged ‘Australia Still Kings Of Marginal Sports’

‘DURING the last Ashes series in 2002, we wrote about the tiresome claims of Australians  faithfully echoed by our own (largely Australian-owned) media  that theirs is a nation of sporting champions.

We easily demolished this fantasy, pointing out that Australians, like the Americans with their so-called World Series baseball, are careful to concentrate on sports that nobody else plays  or at least, nobody English.

We pointed out that cricket is a peripheral pastime in this country, and that when Shane Warne  one of the best players of all-time  played for Hampshire he got paid for a whole season what a top Premiership footballer would earn in a week. The only time most Englishmen watch cricket is when the Australians come to town, and then its a bit like watching the Harlem globetrotters  lots of clever tricks, but of no real importance.